How I Lost the Weight

It was actually pretty simple, I just started eating real foods and cut out most carbs. Simple doesn’t mean it was easy. It wasn’t easy at all at first, but it is now. It took time, a lot of time, and a lot of trial and error. Here is my story.

Are you a sugar addict?

I definitely was. I loved sugar, still do to be honest but I don’t crave it like I used to. I am sure you have heard the question: do you like salty or sweet? My problem was I liked both. When I cut out most of my carbs, getting through the withdrawal phase was not easy. Because I had such a strong addiction to sugar I had to stop cold turkey. I didn’t feel great the first week. Some call it the “keto flu”, but it passed and then the cravings mostly disappeared. At home I wasn’t constantly looking for something to eat.  I wasn’t hungry all the time.  It was liberating.  When I was out with friends I did want to eat the french fries and cookies but I could resist them (most of the time) whereas before I HAD to have them.  I didn’t find comfort in them like I did before.

What is the Keto Flu?

I am not a doctor, dietician or a keto expert so I will not explain how the keto diet works (there are tons of great books out there on the subject) but I will tell you my experience with it. And I am not saying this is what is best for everyone. Everyone is different and you need to figure out what works best for you. Working with a doctor is always a good idea especially if you have medical conditions. I don’t know if the keto flu is actually recognized by the medical community but I would describe it as having headaches, low energy, constipation and irritability. Those were the symptoms I experienced, but I have heard of others also having muscle cramps, brain fog and sleeplessness.  For me, it lasted about 5 days. My body was adapting to a new way of eating and detoxing from all the sugar I used to eat. It wasn’t pleasant, but it passed and I was so glad I stuck through it. One thing I did wrong was I wasn’t drinking electrolytes. I figured I didn’t need them as I drank a lot of water, but that was incorrect. I think if I had known to do that I would have experienced less severe symptoms. Once they passed everything was so much easier. 

What foods to avoid to lose weight?

I was already eating pretty healthy and feeling better as we changed our diet when my son was diagnosed with Crohns. I had lost some weight at first and was not gaining weight anymore but I still needed to lose some. I knew I needed to cut out the carbs. So I ate high quality meats, fish and eggs and most vegetables. I avoided starchy vegetables like potatoes, carrots and butternut squash. I avoided bread, really any grains, and most fruit. Most berries have less carbs and many people have them while staying low carb but for me that didn’t work. I am a sugar addict and they tend to get me craving sugar so I avoided them. I avoided beer and wine, which I am really only a social drinker so that wasn’t that hard. You can find low carb beer but I also try to avoid gluten so when I went out and wanted a drink I ordered a vodka and soda with a lime

Clean keto is the way to go.

Sounds easy right? It is, once you see that you can actually survive without all the other crap you have been eating for so many years.  It took me a while to get there.  In the beginning I spent so much time looking for “keto” treats, and there are tons of them out there. What I found is most of them have poor ingredients and tend to make me not feel so good. I would get gassy and bloated and the crazy thing is I would still eat them.  We are so programmed to not listen to our body. If something hurts or doesn’t feel good we just take a pill to make the symptom go away. I knew from what I learned with my son about nutrition that I shouldn’t be eating them but I told myself I would just do it to lose some weight and then get back to my clean eating. After a while I decided this way of eating wasn’t good for me so I would stop. It wasn’t until I was honest with myself and admitted it wasn’t the low carb healthy foods, but the “keto” packaged crap, that was making me not feel good. I stopped eating it and then I started to see better results.

How many carbs can you eat and still lose weight?

I think this is different for everyone and takes some experimentation.  For me I learned if I stayed under 50 g per day I would lose weight.  You hear about people losing all their weight in a matter of weeks.  That was definitely not my experience. It took a long time, more than a year. I wasn’t perfect all the time and that is fine.  Weight loss isn’t linear, it fluctuates and you need to learn to roll with it as opposed to getting frustrated. Sometimes I would indulge more when traveling or when out with friends. I would gain a few pounds. But I stopped worrying about it, enjoyed life and got back on track. I aimed for 100% compliance but was happy if I hit 80%. I don’t believe keto is harmful for me but I do think it is good to up my carbs once in a while. Once a week or so I would have one dinner where I would include a sweet potato or butternut squash. I found that I could eat these once in a while and it would not trigger my sugar cravings like fruit did. 

Now that I have lost the weight I am back to eating more carbs.  I have easily maintained my loss for 2 years. I am still low-carb compared to how most eat and have figured out the amount that works for me. I don’t feel deprived.  I feel the best I have in years!

P.S. Are you ready to start your journey towards a healthier, happier you? I am here for you and I can help!